Twice the trouble
by doubletwoa
Summary: One moment, Alex and Meredith were in an accident and when they woke up, it's 2005. Back to Seattle Grace. (S15 timetravel back to S1) Parody. Merder, Jolex, etc.
1. Alex, where are we?

**Twice the trouble**

Summary: One moment, Alex and Meredith were in an accident and when they woke up, it's 2005. Back to Seattle Grace. (S15 → S1) Merder, Jolex, etc.

 _A/N: I had this crazy idea while I was writing my other fic so I decided to pen it down and I did not expect it to become a story. There may be some serious parts but It's pretty much a parody/crack-fic so knock yourself out..._

 _On another note, there are minor mentions of other pairings (eg. Merluca) but rest assured, all the pairings I mentioned in the summary will come to fruition in the coming chapters._

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Alex, where are we?**

"It's not wrong to move on..."

Meredith stared at the tomb wistfully. The rain was pouring, drenching her from head to toe, the umbrella held up by Alex was not doing any justice to cover them both up. The whole sky was engulfed by grey swirling clouds. The dark clouds occasionally lit up as a haphazard line of lightning struck across. The wind increased in intensity, trees bent precariously to one side as though they were going to topple over. It was the time of the year, Derek's death anniversary. Every year, Alex would accompany her to visit while she left her children with Maggie.

"It's hard… Even with Nathan, I couldn't. Deluca… Andrew reminds me so much of him. A younger Derek…" Meredith stooped down to place a white rose with a tight smile. Alex held her hand, squeezing it tight.

"The kids are doing great. Zola's starting elementary school. She's really bright and smart,... says she wants to be a neurosurgeon like you. Bailey's quiet and he looks so much like you. He always uses 'funny' before starting a sentence. It's adorable. Ellis is growing up so fast… surprisingly she looks so much like my mother," Meredith laughed bitterly, ignoring the blend of tears and raindrops falling down her cheeks. "I miss you… I wish I could see you..."

Flashes of lightning lit up the darkened sky followed by cracks of thunder as though in reply. Getting up unsteadily, Alex slung his arm over Meredith smaller form, pulling her closer, under the small covers of the umbrella. As the occurrence of lightning and thunder became more frequent and the howling of wind grew louder, Alex quickened their pace to make a dash to the car.

Alex drove slowly in the pouring rain. The sound was quite unsettling. The previously distant rumbling of thunder grew louder and louder. The white blur of rain had reduced the visibility to a few feet. The noise of rain on the roof of the car was so loud that it drowned the sounds of the radio.

"How's Jo?" Meredith tried to ask.

"Still the same, I wish she'd open up to me. Ever since she visited her birth mum, she hasn't been the same…"

Suddenly they heard a loud roar above the rumbling of thunder and flashes of lightning were dangerously close to their location. Not wanting to be stuck in the middle of the storm, Meredith finally spoke up, "Could we go a little faster?"

Despite the dangerously low visibility, Alex saw no harm in what she said. After all, there were barely any cars on the road leading to the cemetery, especially so in this rain.

"WATCH OUT!" Meredith screamed. Sounds of tyres screeching and metal hitting each other overpowered the sounds of thunder. And then it all went pitch black…

* * *

Beep… beep… beep…

As sounds began to become more audible to her, she struggled to open her eyes.

"... Grey… Miss Grey... Can you hear me?"

Blinded by the sudden lights, Meredith shut her eyes again and blinked before getting used to the light intensity. Hands by her sides she tried to lift herself up but couldn't feel her arms.

Noticing her struggling, the man that was by her bedside helped her to sit upright.

"Wha.." She cleared her throat as she heard the croaking of her voice. The man passed her a glass of water as she took a sip to clear her parched throat. She looked at the unfamiliar nurse but noticed the familiar scrubs from the hospital, "Wha… what happened?"

"You fainted during the intern's mixer," he replied as she carried the normal procedures to check up on her before leaving the room.

Sure her memories were a little cloudy but an intern mixer? That was months ago. Pulling herself together, she laid back down as she tried to recollect what had happened. Lightning… thunder… bright lights… screeching… crash…

Car accident!

'Alex!' She recalled her best friend who was in the car with her. Struggling to get herself up to find her best friend, she succumbed to exhaustion.

* * *

A few hours later, she awoken from her slumber, regaining her lost energy. A short woman in light blue scrubs appeared by her bed while flipping charts, "You're good to go. Take a rest for the week. Lots of fluids."

As the woman finally looked up, Meredith studied the very familiar looking face of the woman standing by her bed. She took a closer look, scrutinizing every detail of the woman. She looked different, really different from the woman she saw a day ago. Not letting go of her curiosity, she finally asked, "You look really young."

"Of course I am young. I just recently hit my thirties," the woman walked away dismissively before calling for another man to process her release forms. Meredith shook away the sinking feeling she felt in her stomach but her eyes widened as a familiar looking man approached her bedside.

"Hi, umm... are you alright?" Meredith couldn't help but gape at the man before her, entirely confused by the entire fold of events. Was this a dream? Like the crazy sex dreams she had been having nearly a year ago about Link, Koracik and Andrew. Meredith was thrown out of her daze as she heard the man continue speaking, "I'm sorry I should have introduced myself. I'm George O'Malley, uh, we met at the mixer, you had a black dress with a slit up the side, strappy sandals…"

Meredith replayed the words over and over again in her head. Dejavu. The same exact words that was said by the same man at the intern's locker. That was more than a decade ago. A name that has not been said for years. Meredith began spluttering, trying the form coherent sentences but failed miserably.

"I'm sorry. Now you think I'm gay. No, I'm not gay, it's, ah, it's just that, you know, you were, I mean, you were very, unforgettable. And you suddenly fainted so I wanted to make sure you're alright…"

She got up and walked away leaving a George to call after her, "Wait you haven't signed the release forms yet." She had to clear her head. As Meredith walked through the hallways. She was hit by nostalgia at the familiarity of the place, as if it had never been renovated after the storm. As she blended among the sea of people, she finally reached the familiar hallways leading to the main nurse's station. Staring at the wall, she could hardly believe it. 'Seattle Grace Hospital' it read.

This is one of the most realistic dream she had. "Grey!" she turned her head to see the familiar woman who had given her the consent to leave the hospital with presumably an intern tailing her, release forms in hand. Knowing the drill, she grabbed the forms from his hands and signed it.

"Not even my interns yet and already causing problems," The woman muttered under her breath after grabbing the forms and walked away. Dream Bailey and real Bailey were still the same, she smiled amusedly.

Not knowing what to make of the situation, Meredith decided to hail a cab to get out of the hospital. She had to figure things out. Noticing the hospital, the roads, the city, the details were surprisingly accurate. None of her dreams were this vivid unless they were nightmares, like the haunting of the plane crash, Derek's death, the bombing incident… And maybe the sex dreams. But this was… for a lack of better words, a normal dream. It was boring, it was too normal.

Meredith finally reached her porch and entered the house. It was empty, dusty, boxes piling up starting from the doorway as if she never moved in before. No Maggie, no Amelia, no Zola, no Bailey and no Ellis. Not a hint of their presence or existence was found as she combed the house. Meredith did not know how to take it, was she in a dream or a nightmare? When she found a mirror, she took a good look at her reflection. Gone were the wrinkles by her eyes, she looked really young. As her hands reached up to touch her face, she recognised the smooth complexion she had from ages ago.

Sudden realisation dawned on her. She could feel. She could actually feel her skin. It was too realistic to be a dream. She pinched herself on the arm and all she felt was a sharp pain. But it was there, the feeling of pain. Not emotional pain, but physical pain. She was alive and by the looks of it, she was somewhere in the time before she even became an intern.

She had to find Alex.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the doorbell ring. There at the door, a young frat looking boy was leaning by the doorway.

"Alex?" she said hesitantly.


	2. Alex, is it even possible?

**Twice the trouble**

Summary: One moment, Alex and Meredith were in an accident and when they woke up, it's 2005. Back to Seattle Grace. (S15 → S1) Merder, Jolex, etc.

 _A/N: While I was writting this, I didn't expect it to have a more serious tone. Second of all I don;t have a concrete plan on how this story will pan out unlike my other stories so feel free to share and ideas._

 _R &R, Enjoy ~_

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Alex, is it even possible?**

 _Recap:_

 _She took a good look at her reflection. Gone were the wrinkles by her eyes, she looked really young. As her hands reached up to touch her face, she recognised the smooth complexion she had from ages ago._

 _Sudden realisation dawned on her. She could feel. She could actually feel her skin. It was too realistic to be a dream. She pinched herself on the arm and all she felt was a sharp pain. But it was there, the feeling of pain. Not emotional pain, but physical pain. She was alive and by the looks of it, she was somewhere in the time before she even became an intern._

 _She had to find Alex._

 _She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the doorbell ring. There at the door, a young frat looking boy was leaning by the doorway._

" _Alex?" she said hesitantly._

She was suddenly pulled in to the familiar embrace of the young boy as she let out a few tears, drenching his shirt. After pulling away from his arms, Meredith led the man to the living room and they sat down, she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"You know I freaked out at the hospital, they thought I had gone mental," Alex finally spoke up. "All I remembered was visiting Shepherd's grave with you, it was raining and we met with an accident. And suddenly I see Izzie… and George... I freaked out…"

"How is this even possible? I am pretty sure I am cursed," Meredith said bitterly.

"I had a few theories, one, they're right and I needed to visit psych. Two, somehow i dreamt the entire 15 years up. Three, I'm in some sort of limbo. Or four, the most ridiculous one, we're back 15 years in time…" Alex said as he shifted himself so that he could take a look at Meredith.

As Meredith finally got a close look at her best friend, Meredith couldn't help but chuckle at the ridiculousness of their circumstance. "Trust me, we're not in limbo. I've been there, this is not it. And since we both have memories, I think we went through the last option," Meredith laughed bitterly.

Alex headed to the bunch of boxes lining the door before unpacking, "If this is true, we got to start unpacking and cleaning. And I am living with you."

Meredith laughed and nodded in acknowledgement as she joined the man to unpack her things but she suddenly remembered, "Zola, Bailey, Ellis…"

Alex noticed her growingly solemn mood at the mention of her children and he understood. Those were also his godkids as much as they were Meredith's children, "They will be here soon too…"

"Eight years is a long time," Meredith said as fresh new tears filled her eyes.

"Hey, hey," Alex enveloped her in another hug, resting her head to his shoulder. "Think about this, George's alive. Sloan and Lexie are also alive. Everyone's still alive. Even Shepherd's alive…" As he felt her arms slackened around his waist, he pulled away and grab her shoulders instead to watch her facial expressions. He finally smiled as he saw the look of pure determination cross her face.

"This could be so much fun! Grey Sloan, won't know what hit'em!" Alex leaned down to place a kiss on his best friend's temple.

"Seattle Grace," She corrected him, slapping him on the chest.

Suddenly remembering about a certain event that was supposed to happen sometime the day before their internship, she fumbled her pockets in search for her phone to find out the date, only to find an old looking brick phone, before groaning, "This is something I've gotta get used to. I miss my iPhone already."

* * *

Meredith sat at the bar, drinking her shots of tequila, waiting.

"Double scotch single malt please." A voice rang beside her, the enchantingly familiar voice that she had not heard in three years, sent chills throughout her entire body. It took a lot of effort not to breakdown in the arms of the handsome looking man that was climbing onto the seat beside her. He looked so young and undead. The same, dazzling blue eyes, the same charming smile, the same perfectly moused messy hair. He was standing right in front of her. Right within her reach.

"So is this a good place to hang out?" It took all her effort not to reach out to him, just to take back what was hers. Playing the part of 'old' Meredith, she wanted their first meeting the same. Maybe it was more for sentiments sake but it was perfect, she did not want to change the way they first met, "Uh… I wouldn't know. Never been here before.".

"Oh you know what? I haven't either. First time here. I'm new in town. Never been to Seattle. New job," he told her.

Meredith turned away to down another shot of tequila. She knew the more she drank, she would be without inhibition and could potentially just jump on her future husband. But his presence was rather overwhelming. "You're ignoring me."

Meredith threw a quick glance to him, muttering, "Trying to.".

The edges of the man's mouth curved into a smile, "You shouldn't ignore me"

"Why not?" Meredith asked though knew the answer to her own question. "Because I'm someone you need to know to get to love."

Meredith couldn't help it, she let out a smile. It was true, he loved the man, "Really?"

"Oh, yes."

"So if I know you, I'll love you," "Oh, yes." "You really like yourself, huh?" That arrogance and cockiness, she missed it, she forgot how sexy and endearing it was.

"Just hiding my pain, so what's your story?"

Meredith shook her head, "I don't have a story. I'm just a girl in a bar.". "I'm just a guy in a bar."

And that was all she remembered before waking up the next day, in the living room wrapped around the guy she met at the bar yesterday. She took to sitting on the sofa as Noticing her state of undress, she wrapped herself in the blanket, before lying beside the man, studying every inch of his face with her hand. This was real. He really was alive. Blinking his eyes, he noticed her gaze on him, which led her to smile at him.

The man sat up, holding up a bra, "This is…uh…"

Meredith snatched the bra, before springing up to put it on. It suddenly dawned on her. He may be her husband in the future, But right now at this very moment. He was a married man. A very married man. Married to Addison Montgomery Shepherd. And she had a boyfriend in the future.

Andrew… Being back in the past she had entirely forgotten about her boyfriend.

"Humiliating on so many levels. You have to go.".

The man beckoned her to join him, "Why, why don't you just come back down here and we'll pick up where we left off.".

Meredith noticed the time, she was late, "No seriously you have to go. I'm late which isn't what you want to be on your first day of work, so…"

The man starts getting dressed, "So, you actually live here?"

"Yes. Kind of."

"Oh. It's nice. A little dusty. Odd. But it's nice. Huh. So how do you kinda live here?"

"I moved in yesterday from Boston. It was my mother's house."

"Oh I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"You said was."

"Oh my mother's not dead. She's … you know what? We don't have to do the thing," Meredith replied frustratedly. He was so close yet still at an unreachable place. Married as in M-a-r-r-i-e-d, with a cherry ring on top of the ice cream. And she had actually tried to move on...

"Oh. We can do anything you want," the man mused, buttoning up the last few buttons of his shirt.

"No. The thing… exchange the details, pretend we care. Look I'm gonna go upstairs and take a shower. Ok? And when I get back down here, you won't be here. So … um … goodbye … um …"

"Derek," Derek extended his hand to greet her.

Right, he didn't know her name yet. "Derek. Right, Meredith."

Derek grinned, "Meredith. Nice meeting you."

"Meredith we're late," A voice echoed through the house, before Alex climbed down the stairs and emerged into the living room.

"Wait, you're …. you're married?" Derek asked in shock.

"What?... No. I don't need to explain this to you," Meredith replied before running up the stairs to shower.

"Mer, please use your room next time," Alex laughed before turning to the Derek, introducing himself and then kicking him out.

Alex appeared in the showers before saying, "I'm glad you're reunited but your husband. But Mer, he is still married to Montgomery..."

"Shut up and get out," Alex laughed as he heard her groan.

* * *

"You know, we didn't discuss if we are going to hold back or just go with the flow?" Meredith asked her best friend as they ran into the hospital, running late for the interns orientation.

"Hell no, if we hold back, we're stuck on scut duty. I say we give'em hell," Meredith grin at him as she saw the smirk on his face. He was really right, if she could get them to see how 'talented' they were, the sooner they will see that they were not mere interns and that they could be trusted. And definitely save more lives.

The both of them entered the OR managing to catch onto the last part of Chief Webber's speech. "Each of you comes today hopeful, wanting in on the game. A month ago you were in med school being taught by doctors. Today, you are the doctors. The seven years you spend here, as a surgical resident will be the best and worst of your life. You will be pushed to the breaking point. Look around you. Say hello to your competition. Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty. Five of you will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave. This is your starting line. This is your arena. How well you play, that's up to you."

Ah… Nostalgia. Meredith couldn't believe she was doing this again. Richard winked at the pair, so he noticed their late appearance. "We're screwed," Meredith whispered. Alex grabbed her hand and squeeze it before giving her a knowing smile.

In the locker room, all the interns were putting on their scrubs, coats and stethoscopes waiting to be called by their resident.

"Only 6 women out of 20." A Korean looking woman with wild looking hair heard her remark. "I hear one of them's a model. Seriously, that's gonna help with the respect thing. I'm Cristina.".

"Meredith.". It had been a while since she had seen Cristina in person rather than on the screen through FaceTime or Skype. She was so tempted to pull her person in a hug but doing so would only scare her away at this point of time

"Which resident you assigned to? I got Bailey, the Nazi," Cristina replied.

"Nazi? But yes, I got Bailey too. This is Alex, he got Bailey too," Meredith pulled her best friend who was still changing, groaned before introducing himself. It had been a while since anyone called Bailey the Nazi. Her favorite Bailey alias was Booty Call Bailey. She let out a soft chuckle at the memory.

Another man approached the three of them, "You guys got the Nazi? So did I. At least we'll be tortured together, right? I'm George … O'Malley. Uh…Uh…" George was struggling to hold the conversation while stealing glances at Meredith. Meredith knew from her past life that George had a crush in her up to the time he met Callie and she was trying to be nice but Alex wasn't being helpful. She knew he was going to tease her for the rest of the day.

Another doctor appeared by the locker room, "O'Malley, Karev, Yang, Stevens, Grey, end of the hall!". The man pointed to a woman by the nurse's station. "That's the Nazi?" Cristina asked not believing that tiny woman was as fierce as the rumours said.

"I thought the Nazi would be a guy.".

"I thought the Nazi would be … a Nazi."

A perky tall woman voiced out beside her, "Maybe it's professional jealousy. Maybe she's brilliant and they call her the Nazi because they're jealous. Maybe she's nice.".

"Let me guess. You're the model," Cristina deadpanned.

Izzie… Meredith took a glance at Alex who was surprisingly holding up well at the appearance of his ex-wife. She was glad that he is over her, Jo was perfect for him.

As they approached Dr Bailey, Izzie introduced herself, "Hi. I'm Isobel Stevens but everyone calls me Izzie. Dr. Bailey just stared at her before raising a single brow. Meredith resisted the urge to facepalm, no one likes a suck up.

"I have 5 rules," Bailey started as she beckoned the 5 interns to follow her, "Memorize them. Rule number 1. Don't bother sucking up. I already hate you, that's not gonna change….Trauma protocol. Phone lists. Pagers. Nurses will page you."

All of the interns rushed to follow Bailey as she walked away, "You answer every page at a run. A run! That's rule number 2. Your first shift starts now and lasts 48 hours. Your interns, grunts, nobodies, bottom of the surgical food chain. You run labs, write orders, work every second night until you drop and don't complain…. On call rooms. Attendings hog them. Sleep when you can, where you can. Which brings me to rule number 3. If I'm sleeping, don't wake me unless your patient is actually dying. Rule number 4. The dying patient better not be dead when I get there. Not only will you have killed someone, you would have woke me for no good reason. We clear?" Bailey finally turned around to acknowledge her interns.

Meredith missed working for Bailey. When Bailey was chief and she was the head of general, they hardly shared the same OR. Meredith raised her hand, "You said five rules. That was only … four."

Bailey's pager went off, "Rule number five. When I move, you move." All the interns scrambled to follow the woman as she starts running down the hall, yelling at doctors and nurses to get out of her way leading them to the roof to wheel in a seizing patient from the helicopter. 15 year- old female Katie Bryce.

Bailey handed Cristina a chart, "Cristina you're on labs. George patient work ups. Meredith, get Katie for a CT. She's your responsibility now," Bailey walked out of the room.

"Wait, what about me and Alex?" Izzie asked.

"You? Honey you both get to do rectal exams," Meredith smirked at Alex, who was groaning at getting grunt work. Looks like Alex drew the shorter end of the stick. "Lucky you, Mer," Alex muttered under his breath. Meredith gave him a pointed look, hoping that no one else had heard Alex.

While Izzie and Alex wore latex gloves and had to squeeze lube onto their fingers for their rectal exam, Cristina managed to find Katie Bryce's labs coming out clear with nothing in the results that explains her seizures. On the other hand, Meredith was stuck with Katie, complaining about missing pageants, twisting her ankle in the talent rehearsal while doing rhythmic gymnastics causing her to trip over her ribbon.

"They gave her a sedative for the CT scans so she's a little groggy," Meredith acknowledged her patient's parents as they came to visit.

Mrs. Bryce gazed her unconscious daughter, "Will she be all right? Our doctor at home said that she might need an operation. Is, is that true? What kind of operation?"

Meredith was in a pinch. As much as she knew the answer, it was all in the charts. No intern would have been able to answer that question, "I'm sorry I can't answer that question, I'll have to get the attending for you."

Meredith approached Bailey to ask even though she knew exactly who were Katie's new attending, "Katie's parents have questions. Do you talk to them or do I ask Burke?"

"Ah no Burke's off the case. Katie belongs to the new attending now. Dr. Shepherd. He's over there," Dr. Bailey gestured to the attending and walks off. Meredith let the door close behind her and surveyed the room. As she was about to walk to Dr. Shepherd, she stopped to admire the man at work. Dr. Shepherd took a glance at his chart, before making eye contact with Meredith and turned back to his chart. He did a double take as he realised who it was. Meredith walked back the way she came knowing Derek would follow her. He approached from behind her and pulled her into an empty stairwell, "Meredith, can I talk to you for a second.".

"Dr. Shepherd…" she acknowledged him curtly.

"Dr. Shepherd? This morning it was Derek. Now it's Dr. Shepherd," Derek teased.

"Dr. Shepherd we should pretend it never happened," Meredith had to put her foot down. After all she may not care about him being an attending this time around, but it did not make it any less appropriate to be together with him while he is still married.

"What never happened? You sleeping with me last night? Or you throwing me out this morning," Derek was very amused, "Because both are fond memories I'd like to hold onto."

Meredith glared at the older man, "No. There will be no memories. I'm not the girl in the bar anymore and you're not the guy." Meredith was struggling to keep her resolve with Derek smiling at her, "This can't exist. You get that, right?"

Derek nodded, "You took advantage of me and now you want to forget about it."

"I did not take …" Derek interrupted her, "I was drunk, vulnerable and good-looking and you took advantage."

Meredith smirked, "Okay I was the one who was drunk and you are not that good looking."

"Maybe not today. Last night? Last night I was very good looking. I had my red shirt on. My good-looking shirt. You took advantage. Want to take advantage again? Say Friday night?"

Meredith knew how thin her resolve was to ignore this very man, "No. You're an attending. And I'm your intern."

Derek leaned forward and stared at every inch of her face, tempted to kiss her.

"Stop looking at me like that!" Meredith took a step back. "Like what?" Derek feigned ignorance.

Meredith said adamantly, "Like you've seen me naked."

Derek smirked at her. "Dr. Shepherd! This is inappropriate. Has that ever occurred to you?" Meredith left the stairway to the cafeteria, not wanting to be anywhere the guy who was doing an amazing job at seducing her. She had to find a way to get him to divorce Addison. She did not want the same drama that had happened previously with Addison and Finn. Painful times...

It had been a while to be surrounded by the original batch of interns, minus Meredith. And of course they had to gossip about the missing woman. Normally Alex would defend his best friends but he'd let it slide this time around to prevent any strange rumours about him and Meredith from circulating. Izzie said, "Did you know Meredith Grey is Ellis Grey's daughter?"

"Who's Ellis Grey?" George asked. Everyone turned to look at George in disbelief.

"Ellis … The Grey method? Where'd you go to med school, Mexico? She was one the first big chick surgeons and she practically invented the abdominal retractor. She's a living legend. She won the Harper Avery. Twice! God I would kill to have Ellis Grey as a mother. I'd kill to be Ellis Grey." Cristina gushed in excitement.

"Katie Bryce is a pain in the ass. If I hadn't taken the Hippocratic oath I'd Kevorkian with my bare hands," All the interns stare at Meredith in awkward silence at her sudden appearance. "What?" Seeing the knowing look Alex sent her way, she knew exactly that she was their topic of conversation

Dr. Burke walked into the cafeteria and approached their table, "Good afternoon interns. It's posted but I thought I share the good news personally. As you know the honor of performing first surgery is reserved for the intern that shows the most promise. As I'm running the O.R. today I get to make that choice."

Dr Burke smiled and slapped George on the back, "George O'Malley. You'll scrub in for an appendectomy this afternoon. Congratulations. Enjoy."

Cristina looked annoyed while George was dumbfounded. Interns, resident and attending alike were gathered in the observation deck above the OR where to watch George help with the surgery.

"He's gonna faint. He's a fainter.", "Nah code brown. Right in his pants.", "He's all about the flop sweat. He's gonna sweat himself unsterile.", "10 bucks says he messes up the McBurney.", "10 says he cries.", "I'll put 20 on a total meltdown."

"50 says he pulls the whole thing off," All the interns stared at Izzie as if she grew another head, "That's one of us down there. The first one of us. Where's your loyalty?"

Cristina broke the awkward silence, "75 says he can't even I.D the appendix."

"A 100 says he freaks out," Alex voiced out before feeling a stabbing pain from being stepped on the foot by Meredith. "What?"

"That's not very nice," she hissed under her breath.

"Oh come one, we could use the extra cash," he whispered back, giving her a grin. Meredith shook her head to concentrate on the operating table.

In the OR, George exclaimed, "Appendix is out."

The Interns cheered for him. But this was where the good part starts, "Not Bad, O'Malley, Now all you have to do is invert the stump into the cecum. And simultaneously pull up on the purse strings but be careful not to …" And of course, the events repeated itself since George was still an intern broke them, "… break them… You ripped the cecum. You've got a bleeder. Filling with stool. What do you now?" George was panicking.

"Think. Start the suction and you start digging for those purse strings before she bleeds to death"

"He's choking," Cristina stated the obvious.

"Today! Pull your balls out of your back pocket. Lets go. What are you waiting for? Suction," George was still frozen. The heart monitor starts beeping rapidly but George remained unmoving causing Dr. Burke to sigh. It was pretty much expected this would happen. Hopefully, George would not be discouraged.

Dr Burke shoved George out of the way which prompted calls of "007" in the observation deck.

"What's 007 mean?" Izzie asked.

"License to kill," Meredith replied her.

Back in a deserted tunnels lined with hospital beds, a dejected George asked, "007. They're calling me 007, aren't they?"

Meredith and Izzie replied in unison unconvincingly, "No one is calling you 007."

"Maybe I should've gone into geriatrics. No one minds when you kill an old person," George sighed.

"Surgery is hot. It's the marines. It's macho. It's hostile. It's hardcore. Geriatrics is for freaks who live with their mothers and never have sex," Cristina lamented.

Meredith pager went off, 911 for Katie Bryce. Fully expecting a medical emergency, Meredith was annoyed that there was no one else is there except for Katie who's reading a magazine, and only called her because she was bored. Being an intern sucks.

After entertaining her patient, Meredith walked into the post-op ward. Her pager went off again. Damn it Katie again. Meredith had experienced many cry wolf before, and everytime she did, she knew that no matter how much it was a pain, she had to treat every 911 as an emergency, so she rushed off to Katie. Katie was seizing.

"She's having multiple grand mal seizures. She's got diazepam. 2mg lorazepam. I just gave a second dose. Now how do you want to proceed?"

Meredith was fighting her instinct to take over control but here she was an intern and she knew she couldn't call the shots. She was no longer the head of General Surgery. "Okay she's full on the lorazepam? You paged Dr. Bailey & Dr. Shepherd?"

She had no choice, she had to take charge, the patient comes first. While the lorazepam was not working, they moved onto loading her with Phenobarbital which was to no use as well. "You paged Dr. Shepherd? Well page him again. Stat."

The EKG monitor flat lines. Heart's stopped. code blue was called. There was no time to lose, she couldn't wait for the residents or attendings. Meredith grabbed the paddles from the nurse who had placed gel on it. "Charge paddles to 200."

"Charged. Clear," Monitor is still flat lined. "Still V-FIB. Nothing."

"300!" "360!" Seeing no change, Meredith performed manual CPR, before charging again. Katie's heart monitor started beeping again before Dr. Shepherd ran into the room, "What the hell happened?"

"She had a seizure and her heart stopped," Meredith reported.

"A seizure? You were supposed to be monitoring her!" Derek reprimanded her.

The audacity of the man before was baffling. Future husband or not, she had to give him a piece of her mind, "I checked on her. If you had answer your pager earlier instead of waltzing in, you'd realised I just saved your patients life. If I was not there, she'd be dead by now." Meredith huffed before exiting the room, leaving behind a stunned attending.

The interns were called to gather in the boardroom by Derek again. Cristina was using a banana to practise her suturing skills. Meredith had to compensate for the lack of OR time, she used the other side of the banana to practise together with Cristina. Cristina glanced up to Meredith and watched in awe at her finesse, her steady and graceful hands. Stitch by stitch it was perfect. But she was a woman of pride, she would never voice out the compliment to her.

Dr Bailey stood by the door while Dr. Shepherd walked in to address all the interns, "Well good morning. I'm gonna do something that's pretty rare for a surgeon. I'm gonna ask interns for help." This caught the attention of all the interns, even those who were falling asleep. "I've got this kid Katie Bryce. Right now she's a mystery. She doesn't respond to our meds, labs are clean, scans are pure but she's having seizures. Grand mal seizures with no visible cause. She's a ticking clock. She's gonna die if I don't make a diagnosis. Which is where you come in. I can't do it alone. I need your extra minds, extra eyes. I need you to play detective. I need you to find out why Katie is having seizures. I know you're tired; your busy, you got more work than you can possibly handle. I understand. So I'm going to give you an incentive, whoever finds the answer rides with me. If Katie needs surgery, you get to do what no other interns get to do, scrub in to assist on advance procedure," All the interns perked up. Meredith looked up from her banana to see the twinkle in Cristina's eyes, "I want in". She smiled, it was always nice to see interns motivated to get themselves in the OR, Meredith had been working for more than 15 years and she still felt she did not have enough time in the OR.

"Dr. Bailey is going to hand you Katie's chart. The clock is ticking fast people. If we're going to save Katie's life we have to do it soon," all the interns scrambled to grab a copy of Katie's file, which was sitting on the middle of the table before leaving to head to the library. Cristina hed let go of the banana to snatch hold of a file for herself.

Meredith pulled her memories together on the case. She remembered Katie had return to the hospital before for a repeated aneurysm, and then it hit her. While Derek was walking out, Meredith shouted out, "Wait! Just one moment "

All eyes turned to her, interns, Bailey and Derek. Ignoring their glances, Meredith said, "um… Katie competes in beauty pageants."

"I know that but we have to save her life anyway," Derek pointed out.

"Okay she has no headaches, no neck pain, her CTs clean…" Dr. Shepherd glanced at the people in the room while Meredith carried on, "There is no medical proof of an aneurysm. But what if she has an aneurysm anyway?"

"There are no indicators."

"But she twisted her ankle a few weeks ago when she was practicing for the pageant. She fell when she twisted her ankle. She fell," Meredith hoped he would catch on fast to what she was insinuating. She knew he would, she did the first time around.

"Well you know what the chances that minor fall can burst into an aneurysm? One in a million! Literally," Dr Shepherd left the room, walking away, leaving the room with dispersed whispers. But the doors opened again and Dr. Shepherd got into the room, "Let's go."

"Where?" Meredith asked.

"To find out if Katie is one in a million." Cristina looked shocked and upset at Meredith and walked away in a huff.

They performed an angiogram on Katie. Dr. Shepherd noticed something on the screen, "I'll be damned. There it is. It's minute. But it's there." Meredith took a closer look pointing at the region with her banana.

"It's a sub-arachnoid hemorrhage. She's bleeding into her brain," Meredith muttered as she stared at the scree. Meredith was broken out of her stupor when she noticed Derek's surprise look on their faces. Right, she was an intern now.

"That's right Meredith, I am impressed that you could identify sub-arachnoid hemorrhage from the scans. Katie could've gone throughout her entire life without it ever being a problem. One tap in the right spot… it exploded. Now I get to fix it. You did great work. Love to stay and kiss your Ass but I got tell Katie's parents she's having surgery," Derek was about to rush off before he stopped to look back at her and stole her banana, "Meredith I'll see you in OR."

Derek was about to peel open the banana to pop it into his mouth when he noticed the stitches on it. One side was an ordinarily great set while the other side was perfection. He had seen the Meredith and Cristina suturing the banana earlier and just knew that the better side was done by Meredith. He smiled. Meredith Grey was turning out to be an amazingly surprising addition to his new life here in Seattle. Meredith walked into Katie's room and noticed him shaving Katie's head for surgery.

Richard Webber was checking on Alex's post-op patient when Meredith passed by to get Katie's charts. "She's still short of breath. Did you get an ABG or a chest film?" Alex nodded. "What did you see?"

Alex was about to respond but was interrupted by Chief Webber "Name the common causes of post-op fever."

Alex was quick to reply, "Wind, water, wound, walking, wonder drugs. The 5Ws. Most of the time it's wind, splinting or pneumonia. Pneumonia is easy to assume. Especially if your too busy to do the tests."

Richard looks back at Alex, "What do you think is wrong with 4B?"

"The 4th W. Walking. I think she's a prime candidate for a pulmonary embolism. I would diagnose her with a Spiral CT. VQ scan. Provide O2. Dose with heparin and consult for an IVC filter." Chief Webber told Alex to do exactly as he said. Meredith was proud of him, the previous time this happened, she had to cover his ass.

Meredith entered the OR for Katie's surgery. It was weird to step into an OR without her favorite scrub cap. She had grown accustomed to wearing the ferryboat cap that was resting on Derek's head. It all felt so surreal. Derek glanced the room before clasping his hands together, "All right everybody. It's a beautiful night to save lives. Let's have some fun."

Meredith felt a chill down her spine. Those words. Maybe all these while she had felt like as if it was a dream, but those words brought back the memories, this was her husband. He is alive, right in front of him. Doing brain surgeries. Meredith could hardly concentrate on the surgery as she felt herself staring at him, on the verge of breaking down into a hot mess.

"We don't have to do that thing you know where I say something and then you say something and then somebody cries and there's like a moment …" Cristina said as she caught up with Meredith who had walked out of the OR. Meredith simply nodded at her before catching up to Alex who then led her to an on-call room, hugging her as she broke down. All the stress from the reality of time travel caught up to her.

She is back in time.

She can change the future.

Cristina is here.

Derek is here.

Derek is alive.


	3. Alex, what the hell did you do?

**Twice the trouble**

Summary: One moment, Alex and Meredith were in an accident and when they woke up, it's 2005. Back to Seattle Grace. (S15 → S1) Merder, Jolex, etc.

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Alex, what the hell!**

Meredith was pulling out a cold pizza from the fridge for breakfast when she heard footsteps before Alex bursted into the kitchen screaming, "Jo!"

Meredith noticed the frantic look on his face. "What about her? You miss her already?"

"Jo could be with that bastard," Alex said in rage as he started pacing the room. It finally hit her, she was not the only one having a spouse who was married to another. And now, Jo, or Brooke might already have been married to Paul Stadler.

Meredith did not know how to help her best friend who was on the verge of a meltdown.

"She's 18 now right. That probably means she's at the trailer park. Maybe you can catch her before she meets Paul or even before she goes to Princeton?" Meredith suggested but did not expect Alex to brighten up at her idea. Kissing her cheek, Alex smiled brightly, "I knew there is a reason, I keep you around."

"Hey, have some pizza. We're going to be late!" Meredith called out as she saw Alex struggling to dress before rushing out.

"No time for that!," He hollered from the doorway.

* * *

"Dr. Bailey, l was hoping to assist you in the OR today. Maybe do a minor procedure. l think l'm ready," Cristina tried her luck before giving her the cup of mocha latte. Izzie was quick to cut her, "lf she gets to cut, l want to cut." Bailey tried to ward off her interns before stomping her feet, "Stop talking. Every intern wants to perform their first surgery. That's not your job. Do you know what your job is? To make your resident happy. Do l look happy? No. Why? Because my interns are whiny. You know what will make me look happy? Having code team staffed, having the trauma pages answered, having the weekend labs delivered and having someone down in the pit doing the sutures. No one holds a scalpel till l'm so happy l'm Mary-freakin'-Poppins. Mocha latte, my ass. Why are y'all standing there? Move!"

Meredith entered the elevator filled with excited and a little dread when she saw who it was inside. Not looking up from his cell phone, the man said, "Seattle has ferryboats. l didn't know that. l've been living here for weeks and l didn't know there were ferryboats."

Ferryboats used to fill her with grief, remembering her husband. But now it was serene, hope... Meredith turned to the man and pointed out, "Seattle is surrounded by water on three sides.".

"Hence the ferryboats… Now l have to like it here. l wasn't planning on liking it here. l'm from New York, genetically engineered to dislike everywhere, except Manhattan. l have a thing for ferryboats," he snapped his phone before looking up to Meredith, a grin creeping up his face.

Remembering how this conversation went, she decided to play along, "I'm not going out with you."

"Did l ask you to go out with me?" Derek mused, "Do you want to go out with me?"

"l'm not dating you, and l'm definitely not sleeping with you again... You're my boss," Meredith said in a mantra. The nostalgia set a warm smile to spread on her face.

"l'm your boss's boss," Derek corrected her teasingly.

"You're my teacher and my teacher's teacher. And you're my teacher,"

''l'm your sister. l'm your daughter," he stated sarcastically, leaning in closer to her from behind.

Meredith felt as if she couldn't breathe as she felt his breath tingling on her neck, she accused, ''You're sexually harassing me."

"l'm riding an elevator," Derek replied smugly.

"Look, l'm drawing a line. The line is drawn. There's a big line," Meredith felt her self-control waning as his presence. His familiar scent. That perfectly moussed hair, those dreamy blue eyes, that dazzling smile… She missed him

"So, this line, is it imaginary, or do l need to get you a marker?" Derek teased.

Meredith decided to throw caution to the wind, dropping her files and crashed his lips with hers. Maybe it was the thought of remembering her past life, maybe she didn't want things to change. Maybe the thought of telling Derek her knowledge of his marriage scares her. She wanted him, she needed him. And maybe changing things could affect her relationship with Derek. And maybe not in the good way as she would hope. Then no Zola, no Bailey, no Ellis, no family…

It scared her.

Hearing the ding sound of the elevator indicating they've reached their level, Meredith pulled away, grabbed her dropped files and exited, leaving Derek to stare at her leaving figure, smirking, before hollering, "I'll see you later."

* * *

Derek Shepherd and Preston Burke were the attendings treating the rape victim.

"See how shredded her hands are? She tried to fight. Rape kit came back negative. She kicked his ass!"

"l think l may have found the cause of our rupture. Large hemostat. More suction." Burke pulled out the foreign object, puzzled, "What is this? Does anyone know what this is?"

"Oh, Grey's right again." "There goes my fifty," whispers and groans could be heard throughout the OR and the observatory.

Burke having heard the commotion and noticed the horrified look among all the men in the OR with the exception of Derek. He asked in frustration as he could sense a smirking Meredith despite the mask covering half her face "What? Spit it out, Grey."

"She bit it off."

"Bit off what?"

"That's his penis. She bit off his his penis," Burke dropped the repulsive specimen into a cooler box and handed the cooler box to Meredith. Yeah penis minder again. Knowing she had to hold the cooler box till the police took custody.

* * *

"I'm having a bad day…" Meredith declared as she sat beside Cristina the cooler box between them. "l kissed Derek," Meredith confessed.

"You kissed Derek?" Cristina tried to pry for more information.

"ln the elevator. l was having a bad day."

"This is what do you do on your bad days, make out with Dr. McDreamy," Cristina teased.

Alex slumped and leaned on Meredith as George and Izzie joined them in the tunnels.

"I hate being an intern," Meredith declared.

"Hey, at least you made quite the earnings from today's bet," Izzie grumbled as she tear of the bag of chips and started munching.

"How are you always winning? I never win," George joined in as Alex smirked at her knowingly. She shrugged and attributed it to luck.

"Come on, there's something we can do to cheer us up," Izzie dragged the interns up to the Peds floor.

Chuckles, cooing and laugher while George was talking gibberish, "You are such a woman," Alex teased the other man.

"Says the *cough* peds *cough*" Meredith teased.

Several beeping of pagers brought them out of their baby wonderland and had them running down the halls to answer the pagers, leaving Alex and Meredith behind.

"Hey Alex did you see that?" Meredith pointed to a baby turning blue.

"You're not authorized to be in here. Do you know how much trouble you can get into?" A peds intern approach the two of them.

"Are you going to do any tests? lt's a benign systolic ejection murmur," Alex pressed.

"lt goes away with age," The intern dismissed the both of them as she walked away, "You should get out of here."

As Alex and Meredith walked away, Alex muttered, "Sucks being an intern. I'm the head of peds for god sake. Scratch that, I was the bloody chief of surgery!"

"Interim," Meredith corrected him. "Come on, we should get Burke to handle this."

* * *

Meredith held wanted to check on rape victim before noticing Derek munching in chips at the nurses station, "Have you been here all night?"

"Mm-hmm. You know, l have four sisters. Very girly. Tons of kids. lf l was in a coma, they'd all be here. l'd want them here. Having no one? Can't imagine that."

Meredith was hit by a pang of guilt. She suddenly recall him saying this the first time too and had not fulfill his wishes. Memories of the night flashed through her mind as she tried to hold back the grief and sadness associated to that night. Meredith barely recognised Derek washing his hands before leaning on a doorway beside her, "So we're kissing, but we're not dating?"

Noticing her dazed look, he misunderstood her intentions, "Don't get me wrong. l like the kissing. l'm all for the kissing. More kissing, l say. Is it gonna happen again? Because if it is, l need to bring breath mints," he gazed at her, before leaning close to her, whispering, "Put a condom in my wallet.".

Absorbed in her thoughts, she did not reply him which prompted Derek to take a closer look at her. "There was this baby up in the nursery. He's brand new. No one's neglected him or damaged him yet. How do we get from there to here? Someone's beat the crap out of her, and she's got nobody. I just don't get it." Suddenly there was a beeping, Derek rushed into the room while Meredith hit the alarm before wheeling her into the OR.

Meredith sighed, the rapist lost a penis but here was Allison who may never wake up, Meredith leaned against the wall, waiting for Derek's return hopefully with hood news. "I had to leave her skull flap off, till the pressure in her brain goes down."

Meredith shook her head. The world was such a cruel place. Derek looked at her helplessly, "She's going to be fine."

"If she ever wakes up," Meredith pointed out.

Derek nodded and sighed, "If she ever wakes up."

Meredith walked over to the elevator to head to the OR, she was about to head home but ran into Derek who was waiting for the elevator. "So. It's intense… this thing I have for, ah, ferry boats I mean."

Meredith turned to smile at Derek, who had a playful glint in his dreamy blue eye, "I'm so taking the stairs this time."

"No self-control," Derek called out before entering the elevator. "It's sad... Really."

* * *

"Mer, I found her," Meredith groaned as she was pulled out from her slumber to see Alex standing at the foot of her bed. She had just finished her shift and only had a few hours of sleep and clearly did not appreciate the interrupted sleep. Meredith got up but tripped and fell flat on her face before limping out to follow her best friend.

Meredith found it extremely strange to see Alex chipper and preparing breakfast for the both of them. As he was about to leave the house, Meredith just knew what his plan was and knew she couldn't do anything. "Alex, don't do anything stupid."

"Stupid? Are you kidding me Mer? I won't," he declared before bolting out the door. Meredith had a really bad feeling about this.

* * *

"Fools on bikes killing themselves. Natural selection is what it is. Chief! Dead baby bike race started twenty minutes ago," Bailey approached Chief Webber who was admiring the OR Board.

"All right, people! Dead baby bike race day!" Chief Webber hollered.

"What's that?" George asked.

"Dead baby bike race day, only in Seattle. Every year, the Dead Baby Bar holds this underground bike race. The race is completely illegal, and crazy, a bunch of bike messengers racing against traffic trying to beat each other for free shots of tequila. All-out, no holds barred competition, the race doesn't even have any rules. Except eye gouging - no eye gouging," Meredith explained.

"Great, we're going to be trapped in the Pit bandaging up idiots when we could be up in the OR?" Cristina approached the duo from behind moaning.

What kind of people engage in a race that has, as its only rule, that you can't rip out the eyeballs of another human being?" George grumbled.

"Okay people, the rules of trauma. Don't mingle with the ER interns, they don't know their ass from their oesophagus. Sew fast, discharge fast, take bodies up to the OR yesterday. Don't let me catch you fighting over patients. Got it? Come on, let's go," Bailey instructed.

"Where is Karev?" Bailey shouted finally noticing Alex's lack of presence. The other three shook their heads and denied their knowledge. Meredith and Alex had discussed beforehand that they did not want to reveal their living condition because they did not want Izzie and George to live with them. Especially Izzie since Alex had divorced her before. And it was already hard to see George everyday and not be reminded of how he looked like at his last moments. But at this moment in time, Alex's ass needed saving. She could only hope he didn't get into any trouble.

"He's… um… sick?" Meredith tried.

All the interns turned to her questioningly and Meredith saw Bailey raise a lone eyebrow in her direction. Nobody can say no to that eyebrow, "How'd you know that Grey?"

"I saw him this morning…" Seeing Bailey's unconvinced look, she finally revealed hesitantly, "we're roommates." Bailey nodded before leaving.

"What are you and Alex a thing?" Izzie questioned nosily and she noticed George's crestfallen face and Cristina's knowing look.

"No, we're just roommates," Meredith declared before attempting to walk away before getting to George and Izzie started to cling on both her arms asking if she had any spare rooms for them too.

Meredith tried to get Cristina to help her but she looked to amused by the situation.

"OH look patients!" Meredith pointed out. In their momentary lapse where the loosened their grip on her arms, she took off to the ambulance bay.

The rest of the interns ran and jostled for positions to tend to the injured bike riders everywhere. Cristina was giddy with excitement, "Oh, it's like candy, but with blood, which is so much better." Cristina, Izzie and George were fighting over patients which brought memories of their first time as intern struggling and fighting for OR time and patients. It's been a while that she was stuck with the interns job, suturing while all of the other patients needing surgery passed by her. It sucked being an intern.

"Ah, you got a nice touch. And by the way, you are a rocking babe," Viper flirted.

"Seriously, do you actually think you have a shot here?" Meredith rolled her eyes, losing her patience since she was stuck on scut.

"I like to think I've got a shot anywhere."

"Look, you really have to let me take you for some tests, and a CT. You could have internal bleeding," Meredith chastised.

"No thank you, I've got a race to get back 's a party at the finish line. Do you want to meet me there?" Viper scrambled to get up.

As Meredith persuaded the man to take the test but to no avail, so she shoved him the AMA forms to sign, she was also trying to recall how she remembered the man. Viper got the papers signed, took a few steps towards the door, turned back, grabbed Meredith and kissed her, "That was for good luck... Don't worry, darling, you'll see me again." before dashing out of the ER.

Meredith shook her head. Right now she remembered, Viper, the first patient who had ever kissed her. She looked up and noticed Derek entering, knowing exactly his intention.

"You make out with patients now? How many guys are there?" Looking at him, she could see straight pass his amused facade. She could see it now as clear as the sun on a bright day, something she could not see the last time. Jealousy… When did Derek start loving her? "What are you, jealous?"

"I don't get jealous. We had sex, and we kissed, in an elevator. No, seriously, I mean come on, go out with me," Derek attempted to fish a date out from Meredith again. Meredith shook her head in refusal.

Derek pulled himself closer to Meredith and gazed intently into her eyes, "You know, I almost died today... Yeah, I came like this close. How would you feel if I died? And you didn't get a chance to go out with me?"

It took every ounce of Meredith self-restraint from jumping the man with the charming smile and sparkling eyes, "Get over yourself already" Meredith said before walking away. "I'm still not going out with you."

Derek smirked, "You say that now," before leaving Meredith to ponder.

* * *

As Meredith parked on the front porch, she noticed the living room was lighted up.

"Alex, you owe me big time for covering you," Meredith walked into the living room after receiving no response.

Alex was sitting on the floor as he was staring intently at a figure on the sofa.

Meredith froze as she noticed the shape the figure it was in, "Alex, what the hell did you do?"


	4. Alex, kidnapping people is illegal!

**Twice the trouble**

Summary: One moment, Alex and Meredith were in an accident and when they woke up, it's 2005. Back to Seattle Grace. (S15 → S1) Merder, Jolex, etc.

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Alex, kidnapping people is illegal!**

 _Recap:_

 _As Meredith parked on the front porch, she noticed the living room was lighted up._

" _Alex, you owe me big time for covering you," Meredith walked into the living room after receiving no response._

 _Alex was sitting on the floor as he was staring intently at a figure on the sofa._

 _Meredith froze as she noticed the shape the figure it was in, "Alex, what the hell did you do?"_

* * *

Meredith was pacing the room. "You kidnapped her? Alex, kidnapping people is illegal!" Meredith remarked, slowly started freaking out.

"Look Mer, I saw her so I took her with me," Alex tried to explain.

"Did you do this?" Meredith pointed to the bruise on her arm, not believing that Alex would hurt even a strand of hair on the person's body. "What, no Mer. She fainted in her car, so I brought her here to rest. I don't think she's met the bastard."

"So you kidnapped her," Meredith deadpanned. She shook her head, slightly relief that he didn't take her by force.

Their attention was shifted when they noticed her stirring. Alex was quick to be by her side, helping her to sit upright. "Are you alright?"

Meredith reappeared from the kitchen to give her a cup of tea which she graciously accepted. "What happened? Where am I?"

"I found you in a car, unconscious so I got you out. I wanted to bring you to the hospital but I didn't know if you had insurance," Alex said lamely as he rubbed the back of his neck. Meredith stared at him unbelievably at his stupid sounding excuse but apparently the woman bought it.

"I am Alex by the way, that's Meredith," Alex stook his arm out for a handshake. She timidly took his hand and shook it. "Brooke Stadler"

Alex recognised the name as he pulled away his hand in rage before storming up to his room.

"I'm sorry about him. Come on, you can sleep in the guest room. You're in no shape to go anywhere tonight," 'Jo' took her hand hesitantly before following her to the guest room.

* * *

After getting over the fact that Jo was already married, Alex managed to convince Jo to move in with them in the spare room instead of living in her car. Despite having moved in, Jo looked so broken and refused to open up to either Meredith and Alex, which was the reason why the irritable Alex had fallen into his old habits of flirting with all the nurses. Meredith wanted to stop him but knew it was just a phase but it had caused a lot of rumours to circulate that he was sleeping with all the nurses and doctors. Meredith knew better, Alex was a changed man. A loyal and faithful one.

Everyday it became a routine, Derek Shepherd would 'accidentally' bump into Meredith somewhere in the hallways and find any excuse to talk to her. He would watch her from across rooms and hallways. It was to the point that Bailey and the other interns also realised the attention Meredith was getting from the Head of Neuro. Meredith had steeled herself not to cave to the man's pursuit in going out with her. It was bad enough he was still married but she also had to ensure that the volatile Alex did not get himself into trouble. She had no time for another man in her life at this point of time.

And yet despite having appeared at 4 for pre-round, she found Derek waiting outside the intern's locker room waiting for her. She couldn't help it, she knew it wouldn't be too long before she would throw caution to the wind, forget about all the secrets and claim the man.

"You're here early," Meredith stated before walking away.

Her future husband was a persistent man, he followed her, "I have a chordotomy at 5:00. I'll be out at 6:00. I thought I might buy your breakfast before your rounds."

"I've already eaten."

Derek stood before her "What'd you have?"

"None of your business," Meredith tried to dismiss him.

Derek pointing at her accusingly, "you a cereal person? Straight out of the box? Or all fruit and fiber-y?", he laughed, "Pancakes? Do you like pancakes?"

Hoping to get the man to back off, Meredith relented and replied, "Fine, leftover grilled cheese. Curiosity satisfied?"

"That's sad. It's pathetic," He feigned pity before lecturing, "A good day starts with a good breakfast."

"Look, I'm not being seen with you in this hospital. Learn it, live it. It's unprofessional," Meredith lectured him.

"I'm just an attending getting to know one of his interns," Derek defended himself.

"He slept with the intern," Meredith deadpanned.

"Barely knew her," Derek spontaneously replied, with a tinge of guilt.

"And it should stay that way," Meredith stated in finality.

"You want me to be professional? I'll be professional," Derek suddenly got serious before saying haughtily, "Nice talking to you, Dr. Grey."

Meredith was surprised when Bailey instructed herself, George and Alex to trauma on Dr Shepherd's request. Wasn't he in surgery? As the three approached Dr Shepherd, Meredith stared in awe at the X-Rays, "Nails… and he's still conscious?"

"Cruz, Jorge Cruz. He tripped and fell down a flight of stairs holding a nail gun."

"This is tempting me to betray peds for neuro," Alex muttered under his breath causing Meredith to stifle a laugh.

Derek being close to the two overheard their conversation which prompted him to raise a brow, before turning back to the patient, ignoring his gut feeling about the pair, "Somehow he managed to miss a blood vessel. That's a minor miracle. Optic nerve's been affected. Can you feel this? Numbness on his right side. What's our immediate concern?"

"Infection," Meredith replied.

Derek ordered a CT scan but the CTs are down and MRI was not an option, so they had to Film from three axis points and a C-arm in surgery to pull out the nails. She wanted to scrub in She was not worried about George but judging by Alex's facial expression, he was going to fight tooth and nail for it too. Just like old times. Derek instructed them to their research if it had been done before while Meredith was to contact his wife. Alex and George managed to find 23 cases, with the biggest problems were bleeding and infection but the odds improved with shorter surgery times which meant that Derek would had to cut to see the extent of the damage without the CT. After talking to the patient and his wife, Meredith came to a conclusion. Lightheadedness. He had to brace himself to get out of bed. Something caused him to lose consciousness and fall down the stairs with a nail gun. it had to be a brain tumour. She was sure of it. But Derek was the attending and he called the shots which immensely frustrated her when he told her that he would focus on removing the nails first and dismissed her prognosis. Fortunately for Jorge, he recovered from surgery without any damage to his optic nerve so Dr Shepherd brought him in for an MRI.

"Midline near the hypothalamus, a tumour," Meredith stared intently at the MRI, not noticing the confused but appraising look Derek was giving her.

* * *

"Hey Alex, you didn't do this, did you?" Meredith asked as she walked into the locker room, posters of Izzie's modelling days plastered everywhere. She knew Alex had been ignoring Izzie so there was no way Alex would've done this. "Then who did?"

"Maybe it's a time travel thing? I don't know Mer…" Alex muttered under his breath, before slamming the door to his locker shut, leading them to the cafeteria. Maybe somethings were never meant to be changed?

"But what about the party? Izzie and George aren't living with me now… then Bailey won't catch me sleeping with Derek," Meredith wandered, stuffing the bun into her mouth.

"I don't know Mer. Jo's living with us, nothing bad's happened yet… Which means we can change things..."

Alex was interrupted by the other interns streaming into the cafeteria to join them, Izzie was closed to tears, "I broke up with my boyfriend…" Well, that hadn't change.

* * *

"Let me take you out to dinner tonight. Real food, waiters, big chunks of carbs in a basket," Meredith nearly jumped as Derek suddenly approached her at the nurse's station. Before Meredith was about to reply, Derek cut her, "Dinner, think about dinner, perfect opportunity."

And Meredith couldn't resist her man any longer so she took him up on his offer and ended up bringing Derek home with her. She missed him. She was too drunk to remember the time from the 'first time' they met at Joe's. But his presence. His irresistible blue eyes, the charming smile. She remembered how much she like intertwining her hands through his curly overly-moussed hair, how his lips tasted, how godly his tongue worked its way around her body. His light touches that trailed every part of her body as if memorising her body. It was perfect, he was perfect. Euphoria. All she wanted to say were the three words she felt for the man. She liked Addison but she had to find way to get them divorced

The next morning, Meredith rolled herself out of bed, covering herself up in a bathrobe, she left her room to find Alex sitting alone by the swings.

"Why are you up early?" Meredith asked as she scooched beside Alex.

"I'm happy that you're with Shepherd again. But Mer, you two were like raging animals. I'm sure Jo barely got any sleep."

Meredith laughed sheepishly as she wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "How's Jo?"

"She's slowly opening up… I hope she can trust me soon. She needs to talk about him. I may not have been able to convince her to talk about her birth mum but I did get her to talk about her ex. So I am being a little hopeful," Alex sighed. He decided to change the subject. "Did you realise that you are now older than Derek, not physically but emotionally,"

Meredith laughed at the prospect. Meredith slapped his wrist playfully, "Hey, your wife's barely out of high school. Cradle robber!"

"And your boyfriend's probably in middle school," Alex teased while Meredith groaned.

"Hey you know I've gotten better at stalking. We have two days away from the hospital. I bet you I can find him. Wanna come see baby Deluca?" Alex grabbed her to get changed and head out.

"What about Derek?" Meredith asked.

"Jo can handle him."

* * *

Derek woke up surprised to find himself alone in the bed. He remembered having a great time but he started doubting himself when he couldn't find Meredith in the house. Instead she bumped into another woman.

"I'm sorry have you seen Meredith?" Derek asked the woman who was eating a cold pizza.

"She went out with Alex."

"Are you Alex's girlfriend? Why are you not worried that he is going out on a date with another woman?" Derek asked confused.

"No, no, no… I'm like their roommate? I am Brooke." Derek shook her hand, "Derek."

"They're a little eccentric, sometimes I wonder if they're together…" Jo trailed off before realising what she was saying to the other man. "I'm sorry. Don't worry they're like… best friends or something that uses the bathroom at the same time…."

Derek stared at the rambling blonde woman in disbelief.

"They're best friends," she reassured the man. "I'll shut up now."

* * *

"Oh my god Alex, look! Mini Andrewis like a mini Derek. So adorable," Meredith approached the young boy pinching his cheeks.

Alex held his friend, dragging her away in embarrassment before apologizing to the boy.

* * *

A/N: Story aside, have you guys watched the latest GA. Ellen and Giacommo speaking Italian is so hot. I love MERDER, but my heart is slowly opening up a space for Deluca. haha


	5. Alex, I'm good at keeping secrets!

**Twice the trouble**

Summary: One moment, Alex and Meredith were in an accident and when they woke up, it's 2005. Back to Seattle Grace. (S15 → S1) Merder, Jolex, etc.

 _A/N: Sorry for the delay update on all my stories, I was a little indecisive on the storyline especially since watching season 15. And I've been too pre-occupied with my projects. Hopefully, I will get more free time to update all the stories!_

 _R &R! Enjoy ~_

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Alex, I'm good at keeping secrets**

It had been weeks since Derek been staying over at Meredith's place, with the exception on days where Meredith had her surgeries. No one else knew about her relationship with Derek, other than Alex and Cristina. In the beginning, Derek often glared at Alex, much to the amusement of Meredith who found it endearing that Derek was jealous of him.

One morning when she woke up, watching Derek apply deodorant, getting dressed and brushing his teeth, she remembered that Derek had yet to bring her to his trailer. Meredith tried to breach the topic while Derek was brushing his teeth, "So let's go sleep at your house tonight. I mean, why are we always sleeping at my house? Do you even have one?"

"One what?" Derek caressed her cheeks before leaving the bathroom.

Meredith smiled as she knew that Derek was purposely avoiding the subject, "A house. With a closet. With your stuff in it. Your personal stuff. Do you even have one of those?"

As Derek and Meredith entered the kitchen, Derek greeted the other 3 house occupants.

"You know, I like it here. You said so yourself, you liked having your things around, sleeping in your own bed," Derek got the cereal and a bowl out.

"You're like a health nut, aren't ya? You eat muesli every morning," Jo noticed.

"No, I don't," Derek refuted, confused.

Alex said, "Ok, the muesli thing, you do. The last seven days, at least."

Sudden realisation dawned on Derek, "Oh, come on. I haven't been here for a whole week. Have I?"

Meredith eyed him, "It has almost been a month. See? Even they think it's weird."

"And it's not weird that you went to Italy with Karev?" Derek snapped back, trying to get the last say.

"You know even if you're homeless, you live in the trailer in the woods, I'd still go out with you," Meredith teased and nearly laughed when she saw Derek froze at her words. Hopefully he'd forget about the topic on Italy. That was when Derek finally relented, and brought her on a ferryboat to a forest.

"Where are we?" Meredith looked around at the familiar forest. It had been years since she stepped foot on Derek's land, their land. She missed it. After Derek's death, she couldn't bring herself to come up to this place.

"Shh, shh. I'm gonna tell you." Derek led her further before stopping to face her, "All right. My mother's maiden name, Maloney. I have four sisters. I have, uh, nine nieces. Five nephews."

Meredith wandered, why hadn't she seen any of Derek's niece and nephews… (A/N: Seriously, it's been 15 seasons and we seen all of Derek's sisters and yet not a single child. All his sisters looks unmarried with no kids)

"I like coffee ice cream, single-malt scotch, occasionally a good cigar. I like to fly fish. And I cheat when I do the crossword puzzle on Sunday. And I never dance in public. Um, favorite novel, The Sun Also Rises. Favorite band, The Clash. My favorite color is blue. I don't like light blue, indigo. The scar right here on my forehead, that's why I don't ride motorcycles anymore. And I live in that trailer. All this land is mine. I have no idea what I'm gonna do with it. So that's it. That's all you've earned for now. The rest you're just...just gonna have to take on faith."

Derek took a deep breath in anticipation of Meredith response. Meredith took a few steps toward the trailer and reached her hand out for him and they walk into the trailer, finally spending a night at Derek's place.

* * *

"Jo finally talked about that bastard," Alex revealed to Meredith as they hopped into the car to head home after a long night shift in the ER.

"Well thank god for that. Peds must have been quite an influence on you. Your mood swings were insufferable," Meredith teased him as she nudged him on the rib with her elbow.

"Oh shut up," Alex fixed his gaze out of the car window and let out a sigh. "She says she's rejecting Princeton for Washington…"

"Well isn't that great. That means she's staying," Meredith lifted her right hand from the wheel and clasped his hands in excitement. Not getting the response she expected, she glanced at him. "What's wrong?"

"What if I am robbing her of an education at Princeton? She even has a scholarship," Alex said as leaned back and buried his head in his hands that he had pulled away from Meredith grasp.

Meredith pulled his hands from his face, "Hey look at me. Washington's pretty good too. And more importantly, she's choosing you, … or us for now. You're saving her from an abusive marriage. Her well-being is more important. All's left is the divorce.".

Alex smiled at the reassurance. "Thanks, Mer. Speaking of divorce, what are you going to do about Derek 'secret' wife?"

Meredith pulled the car into the garage. "I don't kn…." Meredith and Alex stared at the front door confused. A woman was ringing the doorbell and violently knocking on the front door. "Should I be worried about a stalker or another secret wife of Shepherds? Should I call the cops?" Alex mused.

Meredith playfully shoved him before getting out of the car to assess the volatile situation. The knocking stopped when the door opened revealing Derek. Sobs could be heard as the woman collapse on the ground. Derek stared helplessly and got down to the floor to pick her up into a hug.

"Well she's shorter than Montgomery. Maybe she is another secret wife. It could be a time travel thing…" Meredith chose to ignore him this time around because she couldn't help but imagine the possibility. After all, they didn't have much to go on about the time travel issue. She slowly approached the pair, Alex trailing behind.

"What's wrong, Amy? We just talked on the phone two months ago?" Derek asked as he patted the woman's shoulder.

The woman finally let go of Derek and rubbed her tears away. Taking a peek up, Meredith and Alex finally got a glimpse of the woman.

"Ay-" Meredith was quick to cover Alex mouth. "Alex, stop flirting with every girl you see," Meredith tried to cover up Alex's near miss of tongue. Derek raised a brow, still suspicious but let it slide. He led all of them to the living room.

"This is Amy, my sister. Amy this is Alex Karev and Meredith Grey," Derek introduced the three of them. Amy's previous tears had all dried up and a bright smile plastered on her face. She shook both Meredith and Alex's hands, "call me Amelia, he's the only one who gets to call me Amy." Amelia winked at the two of them playfully.

How was this possible. Had they somehow screwed up this time dimension or whatever this was? How is it that she was here? Amelia Shepherd is supposed to be in LA now doing her residency.

"So is she your new girlfriend?" Amelia asked, leaving Derek nodding dumbfoundedly. This raised alarm bells in Meredith's head. From what Amelia had told her before, she was really close to Addison. So close to Addison that she had hid the fact that she saw Mark and Addison in throes from her own brother. But here Amelia was, seemingly okay with Derek having an affair with someone else.

"Oh don't worry. I know about Addison and Mark," Amelia said nonchalantly but Derek eyes widened before snapping his gaze at Meredith. Oh right, she wasn't supposed to know about the fact that he was still married.

"I'm going to have some girly get to know talk with her. Alex, I could use a driver," Amelia threw her keys to Alex before dragging Meredith along.

"Amy, wait, Amy!" Derek tried calling for them to stop but the three of them had already left.

"So where to Shepherd?" Alex asked.

"I would say Joe's but too many eyes. Lets just drive around and talk."

"So my suspicions were right. You're from the future too. But how?" Alex asked.

"Car accident. I was driving to the hospital and then I saw your car, but the brakes didn't work. Then, somehow I woke up in a hospital bed in LA. I tried to ask them to transfer me but they said Grey Sloan's didn't exist. And so they thought I had gone mental," Amelia said sheepishly.

"So it's just the three of us?" Meredith asked, she didn't need any more surprises knocking on her door.

"Link was with me, so maybe he's here too," Amelia remarked.

"Well, it must really suck to be Link now, that's if he indeed came back here with us" Meredith laughed humorlessly.

"Why's that? Cause he's halfway across the country?" Alex asked.

Meredith tried to change the subject as she saw Amelia turning more depressed. "Are you moving back in?"

"Yeah, I'm supposed to be kicked out of there in a few years. I love Addison but I miss Derek more and I guess you and Maggie became much closer to me than Addison," Amelia admitted.

"Oh look maybe that's your answer to getting Derek to divorce Addison," Alex said.

Amelia looked thoughtfully. "Count me in. I am Team Meredith Derek now. Team MerDer."

"I don't want you to have to choose between me and Addison," Meredith said, humbly rejecting Amelia's offer.

"Ohhh… please my brother loves you. And you give me cute nephew and nieces. Besides, Addison would marry another guy in LA. Don't tell me you're in love with Deluca. He is a kid now. I hope you're not into pedophilia," Amelia accused which caused Alex to burst out in laughter as Meredith glared at him in warning not to tell her. "I sense it, a story. Share with me."

"We just flew to Italy not too long ago," Alex revealed not caring about Meredith's glare that was increasing intensity with every word he said. "I hope you had pictures!" Holding the wheel with one hand, Alex reached out for his wallet from his back pocket and tossed it to Amelia. She shuffled through the contents and finally found the pictures.

"I can't believe you kept the pictures in your wallet," Meredith groaned while Amelia gushed at the pictures.

"Ooohh he is soooo adorable. He looks like a Derek when he was younger," Amelia gushed.

"That's what I said. Maybe Mer liked him cause he looks like Derek," Alex teased.

"I am not that shallow! But the trip did give me a little closure"

"As adorable as kid Deluca may be, I hope you choose Derek," Amelia declared, "I want in on Operation get Addison and Derek to divorce." Amelia took a moment to ponder before laughing, "What kind of sister wishes their brother to get a divorce?"

After catching up on events, realisation dawned on Amelia, "So how are we going to explain to Derek about how I knew where to find you guys or him?"

Meredith patted her arm, "Don't worry, Derek will be preoccupied on how to explain his secret marriage… "

* * *

Meanwhile at the hospital:

A man in a black hoodie and mask could be seen snooping around in the Chief's office. Shuffling through the contents on the shelf as discreetly as possible, he froze as heard footsteps approaching the office. Rapidly, he rearranged the shelf and dived under the desk.

"Who's there!" Richard Webber burst into his office.

The man got up from under the desk, "I'm sorry I dropped my pen."

Gone was his black get-up. He was donned in flannel shirt instead. "Apologies for the intrusion. I am looking for a job." Rubbing his hand on his sides, he extended his hand to the Chief. "Owen Hunt, ... trauma surgeon."

* * *

 _A/N: Well, I have made a few tweaks cause I am starting to like Amelia-Link, who knows I might shake things up with Amelia, Link, Owen and Cristina. I have yet to think this through… Any ideas recommendations would be appreciated._


	6. Amelia, I think we broke him

**Twice the trouble**

Summary: One moment, Alex and Meredith were in an accident and when they woke up, it's 2005. Back to Seattle Grace. (S15 → S1) Merder, Jolex, etc.

 _A/N: Apologies for the confusion, I have been making a few changes to the story. Rest assured that this is indeed a new chapter._  
 _Sorry for the delay update on all my stories, I've been devoured with piles of school work. Hopefully, I will get more free time to update all the stories!_

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Amelia, I think we broke him...**

Amelia managed to get a transfer Seattle Grace residency program. With the addition of Amelia Shepherd, the house was a mess. Derek had been trying to talk to the both Meredith and Amelia to explain himself as well as to ask on his sister's well being. On the other hand, both of them were actively trying to avoid Derek. They both did what they were good at, running from their problems.

What confused Derek further was the fact that Amelia and Meredith shared a bond. They didn't need to communicate. The both of them made meals, carpooled, and everything about how they followed through their daily routine - it's as if they have been living together for a long time. On the bright side, at least his girlfriend and sister were getting along well. However, Derek was growing increasingly frustrated as he has yet to explain to Meredith about Addison.

As the second morning since Amelia joined Meredith's household came by, Amelia, Alex, Meredith and Jo were preparing breakfast before hopping into Meredith's car heading to work with their breakfast in hand. And yet again, they managed to avoid speaking to Derek who did not have to head to the hospital early. After dropping Jo to school, the three of them enjoyed the silent ride to work. It was Amelia's first day at Seattle Grace and the end of Meredith and Alex free days.

That was till Alex broke the silence. "I think Shepherd's gonna lose it soon if the two of you keep avoiding him."

"Well, I don't need a lecture about staying sober because I already am. And we haven't even came up with our divorce plan," Amelia shrugged as she took another bite from her cold burger.

"What about your tumor? I don't think Derek is allowed to fix it. We'd probably have to call Koracik?" Meredith pointed out.

"Oh my god, my brain tumor! Mer, you have to help me get a scan of it!"

Meredith tried to calm down her panicking 'sister', but Maggie was normally better at this than she was. "Calm down, Amelia. I'm pretty sure it's still small now too. Besides, if you have forgotten, I am an intern now. I can't simply order scans..."

Alex used his free hands to scratch his head while his other hand remained on the steering wheel, "We'd probably have to stage an accident so that the hospital will have to get a head CT."

"One car crash is enough for a lifetime. Look at where that brought us…" Amelia joked.

"How about falling from a flight of stairs?" Alex suggested teasingly.

"Shut up, Alex!" Meredith shoved him playfully. "You could probably just 'fall off' your bed or just 'fall down' and leave the rest to me and Alex…"

* * *

"AMELIAAA!" Meredith screamed as she and Alex dashed down the stairs to the unconscious form of their friend.

Meredith did her best to shake Amelia, but there was no response. Tears formed in Meredith eyes while Alex wrapped his hands around Meredith shoulder, giving a squeeze of reassurance. Soon a crowd formed as they watched in horror. Luckily Bailey had rushed over to immediately bring order to the situation. Amelia was immediately wheeled to a trauma room, with Meredith and Alex trailing the nurses.

"Order the scans!" A booming voice from the trauma room and had echoed in the ER.

The anguish in the voice. Meredith recognised the voice. Meredith glanced over to Alex for confirmation and he nodded. And that was when Meredith made eye contact with the source of the voice. In his eyes were a hint of recognition of her presence but mostly was distress.

How was this possible?

"Grey, Karev! You heard your orders, get the head CT!" Bailey barked out her orders, breaking Meredith and Alex from her stupor.

As Meredith and Alex wheeled Amelia, Amelia's eyes open widely causing Meredith and Alex to stop pushing the gurney. "Well don't just stop there! We need an image of my tumour, don't we?"

Meredith playfully shoved Amelia, "You gave us quite the scare, I thought you'd really fell for real."

"Well, I prefered your idea, Mer. But Alex idea is more realistic to get my tumour image," Amelia said smugly, thoroughly proud of herself.

"So that's what the was all about. You gave me quite the fright," the same voice from the trauma could be heard from behind Meredith and Alex, promptly causing them to jump up in surprise.

Amelia eyes widened in surprise, "Owen!"

"Well, I thought I was the only one in this bizarre situation but I should've known… When I saw Amelia here, I just knew I was not the only one back in time," Owen said affirmatively. "Come on guys, lets get that scan."

After helping Amelia to lie under the scanner, Meredith, Alex and Owen stood behind the glass panel to wait for the scans.

"Well, this makes it a lot easier for us. You could probably convince the Chief to get Koracik to do the same thing again…" Meredith suggested.

"Can't anyone in neuro do this? I'm sure the tumour would not be as developed as it was in the future. Do we really need Koracik for this?" Owen said bitterly.

"Look, I know that you're having mixed feelings about Altman and Koracik being together. But Amelia is still you're ex-wife. Maybe not now but in a previous lifetime she was your ex. And Derek can't operate on her, and we all know Nelson is not the most capable neurosurgeon. So please, I am asking you a huge favour. But please convince Chief Webber to call Koracik," Meredith begged.

Owen sighed in resignation before nodding in agreement. He couldn't be selfish about this. He still loved Amelia too.

Knowing the speaker is off so Amelia can't hear them, Meredith continued, "Just a warning, I'd hope you choose one from all the women in your life whether it is Altman or Amelia. Not to sound mean, but now Teddy's not pregnant…. No Leo. Okay let's not talk about that. In fact, now another one of your ex-wife is here. Then again, Cristina is the least of your problems now. She's all crazy about surgery and Burke right about now…" Meredith stopped herself as she realised she had started rambling again. "Anyway my main point is that I hope you be firm and decisive because I don't want you hurting my person or my sister."

After saying her piece, Meredith left the room with Alex in tow. The scans finally showed before Owen hollered for a nurse.

"Page Neuro and the chief!"

* * *

"My first day of work and I am making quite the impression am I," Amelia took a look at her scans and realised her tumour was small but big enough that they could do a surgery.

Amelia chuckled as she noticed the crowd surrounding her as she laid on the hospital bed. Well, it wasn't really a crowd, it was just her brother, the chief and Owen.

"Well I am glad that your fall did not cause any major damage. But our new head of trauma found a tumour in your brain," Richard explained as Owen nodded curtly in her direction, playing his role perfectly. Owen also introduced himself to Derek. Usually, Derek would be sceptical of any newcomers that could be a rival to his chances of getting Chief of Surgery but he was too worried about his little sister.

"Since we can't have you operated by Dr. Shepherd, Dr. Hunt has made arrangement with Dr. Koracik to do the operation if you agree on surgery. Or you could opt for chemo," Webber explained.

"NOOoooo, now way am I going through chemo. Give me the papers, I want the surgery," Amelia said determinedly.

"Wait, Amy think this through," Derek said as he took the papers that Richard was about to give Amelia.

Amelia snatched the papers from his hands and signed the papers immediately before returning them to Richard. Both Richard and Owen left immediately, not wanting to get in between the two arguing Shepherds.

Derek crossed his arms as he watched Amelia who had turned away from him, pulling up her blanket to cover her entire body. Derek walked to the other side of the bed and pulled the blanket away to face his sister. Amelia sighed. Now that she was stuck in the hospital bed, it was inevitable, there was nowhere to run. There was no way to avoid this confrontation.

"We need to talk, Amy."

Amy sat up as Derek took a seat at the base of her bed. "If you're talking about the tumour, I am not changing my mind. I am having the surgery."

"It's been three days and you've been avoiding me. It's not just the tumour. We have a lot of catching up to do. Like why are you here, you saw me and cried. Something must have happened. Is it the drugs?" Derek asked pointedly.

Maybe it was the fact that she was emotionally older, but she could see it, the concern behind the strong facade that her brother was presenting. Old her would be annoyed by his overbearing ways and underestimating her but now she knew better. He was worried about her and maybe she didn't want to waste the opportunity of spending time with her 'revived' brother. Indeed it was stupid of her and Meredith to have been constantly avoiding Derek. They should be cherishing every moment together.

"I've been sober for 3 months. And I am planning to stay clean. That's why I am looking for a new start."

Derek nodded before frowning, "How were you able to find me at Meredith's house?"

Amelia rubbed her neck as she laughed nervously, "Funny story actually. I met both Alex and Meredith in Italy and we talked, she gave me her address and here I am. Ok not on the hospital bed but in Seattle."

Derek observed her in disbelief, giving her a pointed look to elaborate. And then an idea popped in her head, she'll just have to weave a few lies in the truth.

"I went back home after I heard about you and Addie from Nancy. That's when I was two months sober. I tried to look for Addie to give her a piece of my mind. Imagine my shock when I saw Mark and Addie in a relationship. Addie told me to keep it a secret but I was so upset with her I decided to take a break and take a trip to Italy. That's where I coincidentally met Alex and Mer and we hit it off."

"Coincidentally?" Derek repeated not quite believing the far-fetched story. On the other hand, Amelia was amused that through the whole story, Derek found the meeting with Meredith to be a topic of interest rather than the story or Addison and Mark in a relationship. They truly were meant to be. And she was a little jealous. Sure Link was a great guy. The sex is amazing. He is so uncomplicated, refreshing, like diving in a cold pool on a hot day. But there was still that small voice in her head reminding her that she was still hung up on Owen Hunt.

"Yeah, they saw me lost while I was sightseeing. Came over to say hi and then we hit it off from there. Mer gave me her address and then I wanted to come to visit. And imagine my surprise to see you there. I was so happy to see you but then I remembered about Addie and Mark, that's why I've been avoiding you."

Amelia cringe, realising there were a lot of contradiction and loopholes in her story. But she was glad that Derek seemed a little appeased with the story for now.

"You know, Mer is a great person. Sure it hasn't been a long since I met her but she allowed me to live with you guys when she heard my story. Not to mention, Addie is not even the least bit remorseful if she is still cheating on you. You should tell Mer about Addie and maybe consider a divorce. I would love to have Mer as my sister-in-law." Amelia knew she was treading on dangerous water but was relieved that there was no come back from her elder brother. In fact he seemed to be lost in thought regarding what she had said. This was new. Derek taking advice from her.

She made a mental note to tell Meredith and Alex their back story. Hopefully she'd remember at least half of the lies she just told Derek. And hopefully Meredith would visit her soon before talking to Derek. Besides, without being able to perform brain surgery and having to be stuck in the bed for weeks or months, she could use the company of her sister.

* * *

 _A/N: A little Amelia focused for this chapter, but next chapter will be the whole crew. And I am planning to explore a little into weaving the past members with the time travellers, especially so for Cristina and Jo._

 _Do share any ideas you may have. I am open to ideas. I don't really have a concrete plan for the story, I am just having fun with writing chapter by chapter..._


End file.
